Wow, Ned is really becoming a disciplinarian!  One nasty loss, and he effectively demoted nine guys!  If things always operated that way, there'd be a lot of unemployed former D-Backs.  

Seriously.  Not a good day for the Crew on the field, and possibly not a good day on the transactions front, either, but we'll take things one at a time.  Brewers lose 10-4 to the Padres, with Chris Capuano still looking shaky.  Okay--now we can start getting a little worried about Cappy.  And Kolb.  And--hey, why not, while we're at it--Turnbow, who gave up a home run to a minor leaguer I'd never heard of.  

There's some good news, though: Bill Hall went 2 for 4, Hardy went 3 for 4 (with two doubles!) and Vinny Rottino got a triple, and single, and two walks in 4 PAs.  Honestly: are they any Brewer fans left who don't love this guy?  

Have we discussed the roster lately?

Here are the guys we've learned will not be on the Brewers come April 3rd:

• Brent Abernathy: everybody seems really excited about this guy, when all he proved to me is that he's ready to go hit .300 in AAA.
  
  
• Nelson Cruz: he'll be back.  Let's hope he'll come back a skilled centerfielder, too.
  
  
• Mike Rivera: just not fair.  If Chad Moeller came into camp on a minor league contract, Rivera would be going North and Chad would be looking for an apartment in Nashville.  At this point, I almost wish the Brewers would trade Mike somewhere he might get to play.
  
  
• Allan Simpson: saw this one coming.  He was basically signed to go pitch in Nashville for a while.
  
  
• Jason Kershner: I think the brain trust had hoped he'd have a nice spring and be a second lefty option, but he hasn't.
  
  
• Justin Thompson: similar to Kershner, only he's been better so far.  If JDLR gets hurt, I would expect Thompson to get the call.
  
  
• Zach Sorenson: Ned had me worried.  Zach could've been the Trent Durrington of 2006--well, he might still be--and if the Crew were carrying "only" 11 pitchers, he'd probably still be getting Major League meal money.
  
  
• Vinny Rottino: again, who doesn't love this guy?  He wasn't a serious contender to make the team, but it's a heck of a testament to his talent, versatility, and effort that he's going to be in Major League camp until the end of Spring Training.
  
  
• Mark Johnson: it's too bad he can't hit, because he's a lefty, which would complement Damian Miller, and I get the impression everybody loves his defense and game-calling.

Those last three guys--Sorenson, Johnson, and Rottino, get to hang around for the last week of M.L. camp, mostly just to give the team a bit of depth and give the regulars a bit more rest than they'll get in the regular season.  The one quibble I have is that keeping Johnson and demoting Rivera suggests that Mark Johnson is the guy who'll get called up if Damian or Chad gets hurt.  I'm going to have to talk myself down now: I'm getting really, really worked up about who our third catcher is.

So, that leaves us with pretty much the same issues we were considering yesterday.  There will be eight bullpen spots for ten guys; seven spots when Sheets comes back on April 17th.  Mike Adams is still in camp, but I'd imagine that's just so that the Major League staff can get more of a look at him as he comes back from injury.  

The real questions are Rick Helling's and Kane Davis's health.  If one of those guys isn't ready on Opening Day, the other will make the team.  If both are healthy and pitching well, that might spell A-A-A for Justin Lehr.  It's a tough call--we've got a lot of solid middle-inning options.  The most likely scenario right now looks like: Turnbow, Kolb, Capellan, Wise, Lehr, Fernandez, de la Rosa, Helling.  I'd be happy with that, but I still wonder when all those guys are going to pitch.

Update [2006-3-26 7:45:29 by Jeff]: I almost forgot. Today, it's Tomo Ohka against Kameron Loe and the Rangers. It'll be on the radio with Bob and Jim at good ol' 2:05. Turnbow will pitch in a minor league game, but all regulars (except Jenkins) will be along for the game today.